DVD Review: Rock of Ages

Music can be a terrific way to help tell a story.  It can set the tone better than a 1000 words.  The best part of Rock of Ages is being able to revisit some of the best music of my childhood.  I was too young in the 1980s and not enough of a audiophile since to really know the music, but even I couldn't stop the words that just come to your lips automatically with most of these songs.  There is a very thin plot that the music supports - A young girl, Sherrie (Julianne Hough) arrives in Los Angeles from Oklahoma to pursue her dreams of being a singer.  She meets Drew (Diego Boneta), a bartender at The Bourbon, a famous club owned by Dennis Dupree (Alec Baldwin) and Lonny (Russell Brand) that is playing the final performance of Arsenal, before its lead, Stacee Jaxx (Tom Cruise) goes on for a solo career.  Dennis is relying on this to save the club, which is in danger of being shut down by the new mayor (Bryan Cranston) and his wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) for immoral behavior.

You can't beat the music in this - they use it well, if contrived, to really support the story.  Tom Cruise is surprisingly believable as a cracked metal band singer that has been overwhelmed by his career.  Thankfully, he's not the focus of the story, but rather the anchor around which the others revolve.  The main focus is Sherrie and her lack of career - she ends up dancing on a pole at Mary J. Blige's club - and Drew and his need to be famous for anything.  He had wanted to follow in the footsteps of the hair metal bands, but times were changing and he has to become Drew Z, part of a boy band, thanks to his manager Paul (Paul Giamatti).   Their story is just strong enough with the music to stay interesting, and then thrown in are the parts with Stacee Jaxx and a reporter (Malin Ackerman) from Rolling Stone that he has an affair with.

There's a moment when the whole thing threatens to go off the rails, but the music keeps it together - you know that the scene will change and develop by the time to song or mashup is over, so that's one of the nice things about having the music drive the story, quick turnover and a fast enough pace.  Yes, the story sometimes stops while they sing, but the songs they choose usually drive the story - "Hit me with your best shot" sung by Zeta-Jones and the other church ladies when fighting with The Bourbon and its fans.  Overall, I enjoyed it, but it's awkwardly put together and not exactly a logical story.  Still a nice chance to revisit a lot of music I couldn't have told you I liked, but knew all the words.  Sometimes that's enough.

DVD Review: Compliance

During the first moments of Compliance, the words "Inspired By True Events" appear on screen. Probably because no one would ever believe a screenwriter could make up characters so despicable. But knowing this in advance doesn't help.

The film takes place on a busy Friday night at a fast food restaurant. Tensions run high as the manager, Sandra (Ann Dowd), scrambles around, short-staffed and under-stocked on inventory, when she receives a call from a man identifying himself as a police officer. The caller (Pat Healy) informs her he has a customer of the restaurant at the police station, claiming one of the cashiers took money from the customer's purse. After a vague description, Sandra assumes it must be young Becky (Dreama Walker). Sandra remains on the phone with the caller who smoothly convinces her she must interrogate Becky and then strip search her to find the missing money, which is only the beginning for the caller's demands and the irreversible damage inflicted on all involved.

Compliance is certainly a good film. Writer/Director Craig Zobel tells a tough story, but tells it well. He immediately hooks the audience with a mystery and reveals the truth early, but by then the film demands you watch all the events play, no matter how dirty you feel while doing so. Despite all this, it's difficult not to feel outraged at the stupidity of the characters, but even angrier at the fact that we're told on the front end that this really happened, and these people, or some version of them, exists within our world. Therefore I found myself quite distracted as I mentally yelled at ALL of them while watching them become worse as the events unfolded.

The hardest part to accept about Compliance isn't just that it's based on a true story, but it really shines an ugly light on our society, leaving lots of room for discussion on the characters and their actions. If you can get through it the film in the first place.

DVD Review: The Imposter

It's one of those stories that almost too insane to be true, and yet it is. The Imposter is a documentary about a young Frenchman (Fredric Bourdin), who in 1997, at the age of 23, posed as the missing teenage son of a family in Texas...and they believed it.

Using modern day interviews with the family, Bourdin and government officials involved, plus reenactments of the events (very little archive footage was available), The Imposter spins a masterful web of mystery of how someone could achieve such deception, why they would do it, and the devastating aftermath once everything unravels. Though the audience knows the eventual outcome of the events, it's the journey of how it all came together and fell apart that keeps one watching.

Even for documentary non-lovers, like myself, The Imposter works not only for the story, but it manages to have a balanced perspective of the sad situation, never becomes judgmental or preachy, and even leaves a little intrigue on which to think, as the whereabouts of the still-missing son are called into question. If only all based-on-true-events stories were told this well, fiction or not.

DVD Review: Dark Shadows

BEWARE SPOILERS

I want to hang on to the idea that since I've never watched the show on which Dark Shadows was based, I had trouble enjoying it. But I know that's not really the case...

After spurning a witch (Eva Green), Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp) is turned into a vampire and locked away for two centuries. After being accidentally set free by a construction crew, Barnabas returns to his estate to find his dysfunctional descendants in desperate need of his help to rebuild the family's fishing business against the same witch that ruined him.

Though I feel as though I've been disappointed by Tim Burton for at least a decade now, I still find myself compelled to watch his films eventually. On the plus side, he can still make films that are visually striking (except for the CGI nightmare that was Alice in Wonderland) and get a fun performance out of Johnny Depp. Overall, I don't really expect much more and rarely get it.

Sadly, I was tricked with Dark Shadows. The film was actually a bit of fun in the beginning with a nice fish-out-of-water plot as Barnabas navigates the wacky 1970s and his new family of Michelle Pfeiffer, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloe Grace Moretz, Helena Bonham Carter and Jackie Earle Haley. It's all hammy and over-the-top, but it works. Barnabas is particularly entertaining because even though he is the protagonist of the story, he's still a vampire who must feed the old fashioned way. And Burton even manages to do a decent job fusing the psychedelic with the gothic.

Unfortunately, there is a final act in which everything simply falls apart. The witch shatters like glass while the obnoxious teenage daughter turned out to be a werewolf all along, but with no explanation. And as the family estate burns to the ground and Barnabas tries to save the reincarnation of his long lost love in the nick of time, it all just peters out, without any sort of proper ending. Until of course the promise (threat?) of a sequel stares us in the face. It's as if they just stopped writing the script.

So I've played the fool once more by suffering Mr. Burton's same old antics. I'd like to say it won't happen again, but I know I'd be lying.

DVD Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

There are a lot of movies that try to capture what it feels like to be in high school - both good and bad.  For me, one of the films that comes closest to capturing the overall experience of high school is The Perks of Being a Wallflower.  I would hardly say I was a wallflower, but I was in turn shy and bitchy, was friends mostly with people outside of my own grade (both older and younger), and definitely wasn't part of the popular crowd.  Thankfully, I went to a small school where I'd been with the same 80 people since kindergarten, so I still really enjoyed high school.

Our hero, Charlie (Logan Lerman), is introduced with quite a back story that we don't learn about until he's baked at a party one night.  He's about to start high school and doesn't have any friends and is having trouble fitting in.  Thankfully, he meets Patrick (Ezra Miller), an off-the-wall senior in Charlie's freshmen shop class.  One day at a football game, Charlie actually says hi to Patrick and meets his step-sister Sam (Emma Watson) and she brings Charlie into their social group of "misfit toys".  He gets to date, make friends, learn about all kinds of things, and  begin to heal from all the baggage he brought with him.  He definitely falls a little in love with Sam, but of course that can't work out right away.

I was amazed at how much I liked Ezra Miller and Emma Watson in this - it speaks well of their acting ability that very quickly I'd completely forgotten about Kevin and Hermione, respectively.
From this description, it might be hard to see why this movie is amazing, but you'll have to just believe that to me, it was.  I can see if you have a different kind of background or your high school experience was particularly good or bad, this movie might not make much sense to you or you might not like it much, but for me this was really able to grab some of the best and truest pieces of high school - how it feels, all day every day, and is never the same and everything feels larger than life and you have an ability to live through it, and at the same time you're really sure that everyone will figure out you're a fraud.  The ability of film to capture a feeling that complicated is rare.

DVD Review: Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

There's a quirkiness to some films that becomes all the film is about, which isn't always bad (Sunshine Cleaning, Lars and the Real Girl).  Sometimes films can actually rise above their quirkiness to achieve something even better (my fav examples: Stranger Than Fiction, Little Miss Sunshine).  While others can end up dated or don't reach a greater audience (Garden State, Rushmore).  Salmon Fishing in the Yemen falls somewhere below great and above solely quirky.  Ewan McGregor and Emily Blunt both got Golden Globe nominations for their performances, which may not mean much, but did increase the recognition of the film.  While I'm sure there are other films that were equally deserving of nominations for their respective performances this year, I wouldn't argue against either McGregor or Blunt for these roles.

Harriet Chetwode-Talbot (Blunt - and yes, the name becomes a big deal in the story) is an assistant for a Yemeni sheikh (Amr Waked), who LOVES fly-fishing.  Since he has enough money, and willing assistants, he wants to find out about stocking the Yemen River with Atlantic Salmon.  She reaches out to a British government employee, Dr. Alfred Jones (McGregor), an expert in fisheries.  He is completely incredulous, as there are HUGE insurmountable obstacles to the project - though he concedes that it is possible, in theory.  Thankfully, the sheikh has already overcome several obstacles - the riverbed, a damn to regulate waterflow, etc.  Since money is also no object, Dr. Jones (yes, I kept thinking Indiana the entire time) provides a list of things he'd like to happen, assuming they never will.  But Harriet is a pretty damn good assistant and the project gets off the ground.  You may be wondering why the British government is even getting involved.  That's where Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas) comes in - as the Prime Minister's press secretary, she wants an British/Middle East event that doesn't involve bloodshed, and encourages the Fisheries department to give the Yemeni sheikh all the help they can.

That's the quirky part of the film - watching them tackle this issue.  But there's obviously also a love story, or several as both Alfred and Harriet are with other people.  And there's also some pretty great minor moments dealing with religion and faith - the idea that you could stand for hours waiting for fish to bite a fly must have something to do with faith.  Then, during the scenes in Yemen, our British citizens comment on the different cultures of religion.  In a lot of ways, I think quirky has become the new word to describe dramas that have a little comedy thrown in.  All of the movies I mentioned above have a little of both, and usually a love story of some sort in the middle.  I wouldn't describe Salmon Fishing in the Yemen as a romantic comedy - it's not that funny, or that romantic, but it's definitely quirky, from the title through to the fish themselves.

DVD Review: Taken 2

Four years ago, Taken smashed into theaters as a very good January release, a rarity, as most use the beginning of the year to catch up with the awards darlings that continue to trickle down to the little people out of their limited releases. It also officially cemented what most of us had long suspected: Liam Neeson is a total badass.

And then the sequel was announced. On the one hand, expectations were high because the first film was so damn entertaining. On the other it seemed a completely unnecessary sequel, as most are.

When we catch-up with our hero, several months have passed since the events of the first film. Bryan (Neeson) is on better speaking terms with his ex-wife, Lenore (Famke Janssen), and still very protective of his teenage daughter, Kim (Maggie Grace). After accepting a temporary security job in Istanbul, Bryan invites Lenore and Kim to spend a few days with him on vacation, as Lenore and her second husband are now having marital issues. Unbeknownst to Bryan, the father of one of the men that originally took Kim has vowed revenge for the death of his son, and kidnaps Bryan and Lenore, leaving Kim alone to find and save them.

Taken 2 doesn't suffer from typical sequelitis. That is to say everything isn't bigger and louder in Istanbul than Paris. The plot isn't overly complex either, as it's a rather simple tale of revenge. It just simply feels pointless.

It was slightly interesting to revisit this family and see how the events of the first film had affected them. It also makes sense that Bryan could never escape some sort of retribution from the many he killed when looking for Kim. So this second installment should have worked. Sadly, it was just dull, especially compared to the first that seemed a bit fresher for what it was.

To boil it down to a "memorability factor," the first film impressed me enough that I retained probably 95% of it four years after one screening. The sequel? Taken 2 is mostly lost in my memory bank two weeks after seeing it.

DVD Review: Bernie

There has been some buzz about this little dark comedy, but it wasn't until Jack Black was nominated for an Golden Globe and I found out Matthew McConaughey was in it that I finally sat down to watch it.  Right now it's available on Netflix streaming if you want to catch up, and I suggest you do.  There are movies that tell a story that exposes part of a story, and there are movies that try to tell the whole story.  Bernie is the former while it is trying to be the latter.

Jack Black is Bernie, an assistant funeral director in Carthage, TX (East Texas they clarify), that is pudgy, kind, has a beautiful voice, and takes care of his clients and their bereaved families.  He is beloved in the community and he seems to enjoy befriending (very platonically) elderly widows.  One of those widows is Marjorie Nugent (Shirley MacLaine) who is very wealthy, and universally detested in the community.  However, Bernie wants to be her friend and eventually she lets him.  Unfortunately, she really is a bitch, becoming controlling and manipulative and eventually verbally abusive to Bernie and the rest of her staff.  One day Bernie can't take it anymore and shoots her in the back with a BB gun.  He's devastated, but hides her body and spends the next 9 months running her life without her - donating money to the community, to a tune of almost half a million dollars.  Eventually, he is caught, confesses and goes to trial.  However, the community so loves Bernie for being a genuinely good person that they won't convict him and the Sheriff Danny Buck (McConaughey) has to get the trial has to be transferred to another area to seek justice.

The description of the plot is simple and explained in the first few minutes.  It's getting to that point and understanding the depths of the story that are what is interesting.  The filmmakers "interview" everyone in town, getting their opinions of Bernie, Marjorie and the story itself.  That's where much of the humor comes into the story.  My only big complaint is that we don't hear from Marjorie or Bernie themselves.  It's a description of the story rather than the story itself.  We do see the story unfolding, but only as other people described it.  It's a really interesting method of story telling, but you're left at the end feeling like you don't quite understand what happened.  Jack Black is amazing in this role - he has to balance a genuine emotional connection to people without becoming a caricature of a closeted gay man taking over the community.  He seems genuine all the way through the film - all the way through the shooting, which seems necessary and redeemable at the time.

DVD Review: Killer Joe

Meanwhile, in a small Texas trailer park, where there are NO morals...

Chris (Emile Hirsch) owes a drug lord a lot of money. He decides to hire "Killer" Joe Cooper (Matthew McConaughey), a police detective who moonlights as a hitman, to kill his mother so he can collect on her $50,000 life insurance policy. Unfortunately, Chris cannot pay Joe's fee up front, so Joe agrees to take a retainer, in the form of Chris' mentally challenged sister Dottie (Juno Temple).

Sometimes I loathe my background in theatre, because when I watch films like Killer Joe, clearly based on a stage play, I can sometimes feel the original source material coming through in a way that distracts from the film as its own separate work. It also doesn't help that the original playwright (Tracy Letts) didn't, at first, take into account his new medium when writing the screenplay. So the film immediately starts off with dialogue that feels pointless and repetitive as Chris, his father (Thomas Haden Church) and step-mother (Gina Gershon) are having a screaming match in the tiny living room of the family's trailer. Thankfully, the more important parts of the film overcome this obstacle, but there are moments sprinkled throughout that don't necessarily fit.

The film also relies too much on shock value to entertain. The basic premise already adds an intense uncomfortable feeling, lending the film an NC-17 rating, but within the first minute, a very pantsless Gina Gershon opens the door of her trailer, leaving her lady bits out for all to see. She quickly dismisses her step-son's disgust of "Why aren't you wearing pants?" with an inexplicable "I didn't know it was you." So apparently she just opens doors pantsless all the time without looking to see who's knocking first. It's moments like this that seem to be interjected to get an audible gasp out of the audience without adding to the story or characters. It's evident this family is white trash with no sense of social conduct, as it all comes out pretty quickly in the plot. Shocking moments such as this simply cheapen the film, assuming the audience is too stupid to understand how disgusting these people really are, so it throws it in our face...almost literally.

However, there is a saving grace: the performances. While Hirsch, Church and Gershon effortlessly pull off the main components of the selfish trailer trash family, it's Temple's developmentally stunted, yet Lolita-like, performance that gives any depth to this clan of degenerates. But none of them quite match up to McConaughey's charismatic, sexy, smart, sleazy and terrifying killer. When he oozes his Texas charm, it goes all the way to eleven, and it's possible to look away, despite some very despicable acts. His career seems to have taken a turn for the better since last year's The Lincoln Lawyer and with more roles like "Killer Joe," audiences may be able to someday forgive the dark days of his rom-com streak.

The story is darkly intriguing and the characters are fun to watch with a trainwreck fascination, aided by good-to-fantastic performances. If the dialogue had been tweaked to allow the film to expand beyond the stage, nixing the useless shock value, Killer Joe may have appealed to a bigger audience.

DVD Review: People Like Us

Sometimes it's hard to describe what makes you pick up a movie and give it a try.  It could be the star, or the director, even the story.  In the age of digital movie watching, I think our reasons become even more ambiguous. I was looking for something to watch the other day and stumbled upon People Like Us.  I know I get to watch a lot romantic comedies so this was likely in my wheel house, though it's definitely not a comedy.  Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks were what drew me in - and a trailer run before something else I saw months ago.  The ad made it look like they they had chemistry, but then made you think a mystery was afoot.  So I got sucked in.  Thankfully the movie was much better than that.

Sam (Chris Pine) works in the barter business (he buys a stack of lumber and trades it for 600 cans of soup) for Jon Favreau.  He makes one mistake that gets him in trouble on the same day he gets a call that his father died.  His girlfriend, Hannah (Olivia Wilde - who is getting better now that I know she can act after seeing Butter), urges him to attend the funeral, and while they miss the first flight, leaving his mother (Michelle Pfeiffer) to sit alone, they do finally make it home.  Sam hated his dad and rarely went home before, so he's REALLY pissed when his dad leaves what little money they had to a stranger, Josh (Michael Hall D'Addario, and less than annoying 10-year-old).  Sam goes to figure out who this guy is and figures out that Josh's mom, Frankie (Elizabeth Banks) is his half sister.  He befriends Frankie and they kind of hit it off - though surprisingly in a platonic kind of way (thankfully) with lots of fun, teasing banter.
Yes, you can see the shit is going to hit the fan because Sam doesn't tell Frankie that they're siblings right away.  And you can see that Sam is going to find a way back to being part of a family again, and probably forgive his father.  But the journey of this film is still worth the price of admission (or download).  It's funny when it needs to be, believable and genuine the rest of the time.  Definitely predictable, but I still enjoyed it.

DVD Review: Safety Not Guaranteed

It's time travel on a smaller, indie scale...or is it?

Darius (Audrey Plaza), an unhappy magazine intern, goes on an assignment with two coworkers to investigate a man (Mark Duplass) whose local newspaper ad asks for a time traveling companion. She quickly loses focus of the story and becomes intrigued by Kenneth's genuine belief that he can time travel.

Since falling in love with Parks & Recreation a couple months ago, I've been equally interested in Plaza and her amazing deadpan delivery. Darius' general apathy with everything is typically the kind of annoying character quirk that I'd hate to watch on screen, but Plaza's perfected this personality trait so it's actually fun to have such a downer for a protagonist. And it becomes even more satisfying when Darius' relationship with Kenneth takes off and there's something in her life she doesn't simply loathe. And though I've never particularly cared for Duplass' off-beat brand of comedy, his oddball performance and chemistry with Plaza warmed me to him instantly.

Sadly for a clever premise, the film does follow a formula, and except for the final five minutes almost every direction the film takes is obvious two scenes before it happens. However, Safety's main plot won me over in those final unpredictable minutes because it made a clear decision to leave the audience with a definitive ending, something missing from a majority of indie films. There is no question whether or not Kenneth was the real deal or a complete nutcase. It was a bold decision to say one way or the other, instead of leaving it to the viewers' interpretation, and in this situation it was an admirable one.

Though the two leads worked well together and the character development was spot on with a satisfying ending, I still wish the story had more focus on Darius and Kenneth. At such a stunted runtime (85 minutes) it feels as if half the film is dedicated to Darius' coworkers Jeff and Arnau's shenanigans on the business trip, which aren't half as interesting. I quickly lost interest anytime the film pulled away from the central plot because seeking out old flames and finding one's self are quite dull in comparison to a guy who claims to time travel. And because of this ultimate lack of focus, Safety Not Guaranteed was an admirable effort, if not a great final product.

DVD Review: Ruby Sparks

Weird Science meets Stranger than Fiction? Perhaps, but Ruby Sparks is so much more.

As young novelist Calvin (Paul Dano) suffers from a severe case of writer's block, he begins to dream of the perfect girl. With encouragement from his psychologist (Elliott Gould), Calvin begins to write about his dreamgirl, Ruby, giving her a real history and personality, once again finding himself immersed in the writing process while falling in love with his creation...until the day he wakes up and finds Ruby (Zoe Kazan) actually standing in his kitchen.

The Manic Pixie Dreamgirl (MPDG) has been a blemish on cinema as of late, causing audiences, particularly real women, to roll their eyes at the painfully stale trope. The MPDGs of late have been given every quirky characteristic imaginable, but instead of being cool ladies with real personalities, they come off more as an obnoxious fantasy of a sadsack loser who's never been in a real relationship or has recently had his heartbroken by a real woman. In other words, they've become little more than a pathetic coping mechanism. But for Ruby it works.

In her script, Kazan points to all the problems with the MPDG and why their neverending portrayal in Hollywood is a real problem. Calvin has serious, psychological issues, having become a world-famous novelist while still a teenager. This clearly led to an unorthodox entrance into adulthood, stunting his ability to really grow up or have a meaningful relationship. So by envisioning Ruby and all of her free-spirited eccentricities, he's able to remain in a satisfied state of arrested development, though he actually believes he's having a breakthrough. However, as the film progresses, Calvin learns that despite creating Ruby's character and personality, she is not satisfied being his beloved MPDG and yearns for more, no matter how hard he tries to keep her a flat stock character. And it's all pretty damn clever and heartbreaking.

The film points out that the bemoaned MPDG (and any female character) should be more than a catalyst for helping the male protagonist move on with his life and grow up. And though Ruby does essentially help Calvin reach the next step, in both his writing and future relationships, she does so by declaring she is a person, with real thoughts and feelings, more than just some fantasy come to life, moving beyond the parameters Calvin set for her.

It's even more intensified when juxtaposed to Calvin's relationship with his mother (Annette Bening) who use to be more of a strict, career woman, but turned into a warm free-spirited hippie after his father's death. Her new way of life with her artist partner (Antonio Banderas) disgust Calvin, though his mother is just an older version of his fantasy girl, evident in the way the two ladies get along. Heavy stuff.

Ruby Sparks accomplishes many things, dealing with the tired cliches of Hollywood in a lovely, whimsical fashion. It's the stuff romantic-comedies should be made of.

DVD Roundup: Biological Clock Edition

I will totally cop to being in the age bracket for these films, and a sucker for bad chick flicks. So try to be original when mocking my taste in films this time. What to Expect When You're Expecting and I Don't Know How She Does It are both about moms, the first expecting and the latter experienced. Expecting has 5 intersecting stories of women that are pregnant, by choice, design, or accident - Wendy (Elizabeth Banks) is a baby-less mommy expert married to Gary (Ben Falcone). Gary's former racecar driving father, Ramsey (Dennis Quaid) has knocked up his incredibly young second wife Skylar (Brooklyn Decker). Skylar's cousin Rosie (Anna Kendrick) drives a food truck, and has a chance meeting with Marco (Chace Crawford) and ends up preggars. One of Wendy's work partners, Holly (Jennifer Lopez) is a photographer who is about to adopt a baby. The outside story that starts us off though reconnects by the end is Jules (Cameron Diaz) a TV fitness guru who is sleeping with her "Dancing with the Stars" rip-off partner Evan (Matthew Morrison), but it's true love (even though she's a bitch). We watch them all try to deal with being pregnant - some are overjoyed, shocked, terrified, spoiled, etc. It's funny and, based on my own friends, fairly realistic.

One of the funniest elements to the story is the "men's group", a group of dads, some the spouses of other supporting characters, that gathers to confess to being bad parents without getting in trouble with their wives. Chris Rock heads this group, strolling 3 kids plus one in tow. They explain the rules to some of the expectant fathers - no squealing on each other (they drop kids, screw up changing diapers, forget them, etc.). Again, it's funny and honest seeming, though probably gives dads a pretty bad rap - most of the guys I know are pretty great dads. It's a surprisingly funny movie, with good small performances. Usually movies with this broad a cast (it's got almost everyone from Bridesmaids except Wiig and Rudolph) struggle trying to give everyone a balanced storyline. This really focuses on Wendy and Jules at opposite ends of the group and gives just enough time to the others that you care about their stories, but we have something driving it along that will end in 9 months - a surprising success based on a How-To type book.

I Don't Know How She Does It was a Sarah Jessica Parker flop from last fall. I blame this mostly on the marketing - they showed the most stupid plot devices, like SJP stepping out of the story to talk to the camera (which she only does once or twice) and the times she narrated her "lists". Basically, she's a Wall Street fund manager who is good at her job, loves her family, and can pretty much do it all. Obviously, she can't, but thankfully we don't watch her screw up too big to forgive. She and Greg Kinnear have good chemistry and you actually believe that she wouldn't leave him for Pierce Brosnan. We see her attempt to succeed at work, support her husband, and deal with her kids.

The device of everyone in the story being interviewed (faux mockumentary style) doesn't work, but it's fun watching Christina Hendricks (SJP's best friend, single mother who always screws up snack) and Busy Phillips (annoying perfect mom) whine about how SJP can do anything. Brosnon is a client trying to woo SJP, and Seth Meyers in the annoying ass at her office gunning for her job. This movie succeeds because it's not nearly as bad as it should be - so rising above expectations does give it a boost it likely doesn't deserve. But I laughed and I found all of the supporting characters kind of charming. Thankfully, other than the interview and talk to the camera techniques, the movie doesn't bother.

DVD Review: The Innkeepers

Though it's the month of October, when almost every other movie blog has had multiple posts related to the horror film genre by now, you might have noticed that Reel Insight has been sorely lacking. That's because Jess and I are big fraidy cats. So you won't find a "Month of Terror" blogathon around these parts any time soon (i.e. ever), but I thought we could use at least one review related to scares. And since my dear husband has saturated my our Instant Queue with no less than 50 low budget horror flicks, I had plenty from which to choose. With last year's The Innkeepers being one of few I had actually heard of, I indulged my senses in 100 minutes of chills and thrills...well, sort of.

After a century, the once grand Yankee Pedlar Inn is closing its doors. During its final weekend of operation, the last two employees, Claire (Sara Paxton) and Luke (Pat Healy), decide to do some ghost hunting, as the hotel has a reputation of housing the spirit of a begrudged bride abandoned on her wedding night, which resulted in her supposed suicide.

For over an hour, the film builds a sense of tension, with creepy atmosphere and a haunting score. It exceeds in bringing the familiar to the audience. Most of us have been in an old building with a rich history, giving us an odd, chilling feeling, which is what ghost stories prey on. As Claire gets excited to go ghost hunting in the practically empty hotel, it took me back to hearing the ghost stories of various places I had been (college, old hotels, etc.) and I could really identify with Claire's enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, the story veers off in odd directions at times. It's mentioned several times that Claire has no direction in life, something that upsets her a bit. However, this angle does not tie into the ghost story at all. It's nothing more than filler conversation. Early in the film, a former-actress-turned-medium (Kelly McGillis) checks into the hotel, and Claire calls upon her expertise to contact the ghost, feeling as ridiculous as it sounds. And by the end, any genuine connection earlier established with Claire is lost when she turns into the stereotypical dumb blonde, who goes to investigate the odd noises in the creepy basement instead of staying put. And it's just all downhill from there, because once we see the things we've only been told about, the payoff is far from worth it.

The Innkeepers boils down to a simple ghost story that's been told a thousand times over for any building more than 50 years old. Sadly, despite a decent build of tension, The Innkeepers falls very short and doesn't bring anything new to a story that would've felt perfectly comfortable on a half-hour episode of Nickelodeon's "Are You Afraid of the Dark?"

DVD Review: Sound of My Voice

What if recent releases Looper and The Master had a baby? Well, it would be nothing like Sound of My Voice, but there is little else to compare in the time traveling, cult leader sub-sub-genre.

Peter (Christopher Denham) and Lorna (Nicole Vicius) are a young couple selected to join a cult led by Maggie (Brit Marling), a woman who claims to be from 2054. Maggie talks of great civil war that is not too far from the present day, that will ultimately leave the country in a post-apocalyptic state and she wants to prepare a select few to be able to lead others to survival once the turmoil begins. However, Peter and Lorna have infiltrated the cult to expose Maggie as a fraud, but quickly lose sight of their task as they go deeper into Maggie's teachings.

At first, Sound of My Voice is an intriguing look into a cult because what's happening doesn't really feel dangerous. Maggie is at best a captivating leader and at worst and good liar. But she's not scary. The group doesn't have a violent streak, despite one scene of an older member taking Lorna into the woods for some shooting practice. The members don't live in a commune, cut off from the world. They go to work and live at home, convening in Maggie's basement when called. It's simply a small group of people choosing to believe something very different than the mainstream. At least at first.

The problem with Sound of My Voice is that at a mere 80 minutes, it feels stunted. Little is known of the cult's selection process, yet their goofy handshake, which becomes a major plot point, is clearly seen numerous times. Maggie claims to have woken up in the present day with no memory, but was sought out by her second-in-command with no explanation of why. The outside forces that threaten to undo the cult are randomly introduced, then forgotten, then brought back with little background or resolution. And of course, like with any little indie drama, the true question ("Is she or isn't she?") is never answered, not that it needs to be.

So despite an intriguing set up and good performances, Sound of My Voice feels more like a short film in progress, still begging to be fleshed out to make a true feature length film.

DVD Mini-Review: Going the Distance

I know I'm a glutton for punishment, but I'm constantly looking for another romantic comedy I'll enjoy.  Drew Barrymore has starred in several of my favorites - Never Been Kissed in particular.  So I figured Going the Distance couldn't be that bad.  Unfortunately, it's not the newest favorite of mine. Art is mirroring life with Justin Long and Drew Barrymore getting together.  They meet during Barrymore's internship in NYC (yes, they mock the idea that someone her age would be doing an internship) but decide to try to stay together after she has to return to the West Coast to finish school.  They attempt to maintain their relationship long-distance, travelling back and forth, and attempting to use the phone to maintain some physical intimacy. But you can see how this is going to go from the first moment they get together - and usually the journey is the interesting part of this kind of a story, but sadly, not this time.  There are some interesting supporting characters - Charlie Day is Long's roommate and DJ on romantic evenings, Jason Sudeikis is a friend who comments on his life,  and Christina Applegate is Barrymore's hyper-OCD sister.  They're both funny and over the top in their roles, but doesn't make the film a lot better.  Overall, just a really, really generic long-distance relationship movie that tries to be a little raunchy and kind of funny, but not much more.

DVD Review: W. E.

When I first heard about this movie, I was really intrigued as I have a potentially obsessive attraction to the British Royal family.  Then I found out Madonna wrote and directed it and I was surprisingly put off.  Then it got nominated for an Oscar for costume design so I was intrigued again.  So now that it's on Netflix streaming, I got to check it out pretty easily.  The movie takes several real events - the love affair between Wallis Simpson (Andrea Riseborough) and King Edward VIII, known as David (James D'Arcy) that led to his abdication and the auction at Sotheby's of their estate. Overlaid on that storyline is a parallel story of a modern woman (Abbie Cornish) in NYC who was named Wally after Simpson and is obsessed with her story.  She's married to an unfaithful husband (Richard Coyle - yes, Jeff from Coupling) and befriends one of the security guards at the Sotheby's auction.

The whole historical story is fairly well documented, but this movie tries to tell the story from Simpson's point of view, so we see her first marriage and living with an abusive husband in Shanghai.  Then we see her coming to England and marrying her second husband.  With him, she's invited to parties with the Prince of Wales, but is trying to set up one of her friends. Of course, eventually she is the one pursued by David.  They have an up and down affair as she realizes how public their relationship will be because of his family.  After he becomes King, it only gets worse, with members of Parliament threatening to quit.  Most of this part of the story is told just as well in The King's Speech, but Wallis often comes across as the temptress who stole a King.  However, W.E. tries to give a more balanced view of Simpson who had to give up privacy as well as becoming almost a historical joke.

Our modern Wally wanders around the auction thinking about how the items would have been used.  There are moments when they can even interact in an almost dream-like sequence.  There are also moments when Wally is channeling Wallis, dressing like her most of the film.  However, our Wally is deeply unhappy in her marriage and looks to Wallis for strength to go after what she wants.  The parallel stories work much of the film, but not every time.  Some just start being silly when Wally gives back the gloves she bought at the auction to Wallis, who wears them out of the scene.   The historical scenes do end quite well as we see what happened as David and Wallis (the Duke and Duchess of Windsor after the abdication) were never allowed back to England and lived out their lives in Paris.  I liked that story line very much, and Abbie Cornish as Wally was really good, but without much to work with since her story was created to overlay a rich historical drama.  And since it was Madonna, I feel I must comment on what was really rapid-fire direction, to an almost dizzying degree she'd whip between shots.  It didn't feel necessary and often left you wondering what happened so quickly.  Overall, because I enjoy period pieces in general, I did enjoy this.  The technical bits were overcome by great costumes and an interesting historical story.

DVD Review: Joyful Noise

Okay, I know I'm probably losing any credit I got as a movie blogger for going to TIFF by reviewing this movie, but I don't care.  I saw it, so you must hear about it.  First of all, I know I'm looking at a pretty big "I could have told you that" once you see the review.  Second, I did have high hopes for it as I really like Queen Latifah.  And finally, I'm usually a sucker for movies with music.  Other than the music being pretty great, and Queen Latifah being her usually great self, everyone who would have said I told you so were right, it stunk.  Joyful Noise is all you get - no acting, poor story, terrible dialogue, and an impressive set of music.
ViRose (Latifah) and G.G. (Dolly Parton) both belong to their church's choir (though G.G. and her husband seem to be the only white people in the congregation).  When the director dies, ViRose is made their new director and in charge of winning the choir competition after years of coming in second.  However, ViRose doesn't want to update the music choices, though her daughter Olivia (Keke Palmer who has an amazing voice) and her boyfriend Randy (Jeremy Jordan) have bigger ideas.  Of course G.G. is the choir's sponsor and wants the changes.  So ViRose basically quits, but of course they can't live without her and ultimately go her way.  But at the final competition, they realize they have to be innovative with their music.

ViRose and G.G. fight a lot about why they should each be the director of the choir.  They throw food at each other and use all the dialogue from the trailer to be funny.  The music they do ultimately chose is fun to hear (from Michael Jackson to hip hop).  ViRose and Olivia fight a lot because their mother and daughter and there are rules about dating.  But nothing isn't predictable and very little is original.  It's only the quality of the music that makes this not unbearable, but mostly it's pretty terrible.  Oh, and Dolly Parton has done so much plastic work to her face that she's actually difficult to look at, since she seems to be so different from the terrifically funny actress in 9 to 5.

DVD Review: Albert Nobbs

I liked this movie much more than I thought I would.  Glenn Close got a much deserved Oscar nomination for playing a woman who has dressed like a man since she was a teenager because it was easier to find a job.  So now she's just Albert.  She's trying to save enough money to run a shop instead of working in a hotel, and guards her money carefully.  Her world is upset when a Mr. Page (Janet McTeer) comes to paint the downstairs and is told to bunk with Albert.  Sometime during the night Albert feels an insect under his shirt and has to open it up and Mr. Page sees her breasts and the jig is up.  Albert is scared Mr. Page will give away the secret, but then we see Mr. Page's breasts too.  All this happens so fast you start thinking every man is going to show you boobs, but that's it.  Mr. Page actually has a wife, Cathleen, that fascinates Albert.  He thinks he might be able to find a wife too to help keep the appearance of his life as a man.  Eventually, typhoid runs through the city (London turn of the century) disrupting everything.

Albert is a terrific character - she's sad, a little pathetic, unendingly earnest and hopeful.  She's second only to Janet McTeer's Mr. Page.  McTeer definitely should have gotten a nomination for supporting actress, she's terrific.  I buy her as a man much easier than you believe Glenn Close.  She embodied the part - she lives in clothes that make her seem manish, has a wife, smokes, etc.  She's reveling in being a man (though hardly distinguishable from a woman today!).  The movie does try its best to keep actual sexuality out of the discussion.  We do hear some stories that explain how their initial transitions happen, but not much about how they date/love/etc. now that it's been decades since they transitioned.  One way they start to address the issue is when Albert decides he might like to get a wife too and asks Helen (Mia Wasikowska) to "go out walking", but doesn't get to the physical part of courting and is fairly put off when Helen initiates it.  You can't tell if she's shocked, or just doesn't want to reveal her secret.  An original story and a terrific cast made this a movie I can't stop thinking about.